Materialistic thinking: breakdown in the society

Attorney, Andrew Cummings has expressed concern that the holistic values of the society are under attack by the “get rich quick” mentality which has dominated the minds of young people.

Cummings, who was the feature speaker at the University of the West Indies (UWI) graduation last Friday said too many people were in search of what he described as “bling bling” and believed that their worth was determined by the size of their car or house. He said that such materialistic thinking by the youth was being carried into adulthood thus causing a further breakdown in the society.{{more}}

Cummings said the things that really mattered such as good manners and basic hygiene seemed to be disappearing as people rushed to get to the top, while hard work seemed to be a dirty word.

The lawyer believes that since Caribbean people were emancipated from slavery “nice time, food and rum drinking” seemed to be the order of the day. Cummings said that Caribbean people needed to follow the pattern of Japan, which was a country that rebuilt itself into economic prosperity through hard work and discipline.

Cummings said that it was time for people to care more about their fellow men and not let party politics and greed pull them apart. The lawyer said one way that patriotism and love for each other could be instilled in citizens was if subjects such as Civics were taught in schools.